New GM Dorsey Says Chiefs Will Take Best Player In Draft

The Chiefs own the top pick in this year’s NFL Draft because of the team’s 2-14 record. The team’s biggest need is quarterback but don’t expect new GM John Dorsey to reach to select one.

Though no team ever wants to own the first pick of the draft because it’s the reward for owning the worst record in the league, Dorsey said Monday according to Randy Covitz of theKansas City Star, “I want to turn it into a positive. We all know there is some pressure involved in that. You make the right pick by choosing the best player available.

“I know of no other philosophy.”

The Chiefs will alternate the first and second picks in rounds two through seven with Jacksonville — which also had a 2-14 record, but its opponents had a better collective record, allowing the Chiefs to pick No. 1 overall.

“We’re first in the waiver acquisitions,” Dorsey also pointed out. “That helps building a team. In the past, our model has been … to be selective in free agency. You can still get value, within that philosophy, and you can still acquire players. Every year has a different-case scenario and each year you have to study that and make determinations when you set your free-agency plan in motion.”

Dorsey learned in his time at Green Bay to be true to the draft board and not reach to fill a position. It’s why the Packers would take players at positions even though the need was not necessarily there.

“You spent all those months as a group staying true to your board,” Dorsey said, “and all of a sudden you have to jump a player because of positional needs? I don’t think you do that. We have proven you don’t do that.

“We took Jordy (Nelson) … Randall Cobb, ” he said of second-round picks at wide receiver, “players we were deep at in specific positions and let them evolve into their careers and let their abilities play out because ultimately what we’re trying to do is get good football players on this roster.”

“It’s very important we get that pick right, whether it’s taking the best available player or trading that pick. A lot of thought and preparation is going to go into that, and on the inside, (Dorsey’s) excited about it. Who wouldn’t be as a general manager, to have the No. 1 pick?”